SolidWorks 2006 Streamlines Design, Adds Power

By DE Editors

SolidWorks Corporation(Concord, MA) last week released SolidWorks 2006, the newest version ofits 3D mechanical design software that has been in use for nearly adecade. SolidWorks 2006 features a host of new and unique capabilities,including more than 200 customer-requested enhancements. Theseinnovations include fundamentally new approaches that allow designengineers to analyze and validate designs as they work. According toSolidWorks, version 2006 represents an exponential increase inperformance and includes new user productivity tools; new features forconsumer product, sheet metal, and machine designers; new mainstreamdesign validation capabilities; innovations that significantly ease themigration from 2D to 3D design, such as 3D Drawing View and DesignChecker, as well as enhancements to the DWG Series (Editor, Gateway,Viewer); and enhancements in SolidWorks Office Premium that empowerdesign engineers across the entire spectrum of their activities.

SolidWorks focused performance enhancements in two areas: overallsystem architecture and common operations, with particularly dramaticgains in large assembly and drawing processing. SolidWorks hasoptimized its lightweight file structure to allow for fast processingat all times in a wide range of commands such as mating, componentsinsertion, interference detection, and section view. Users can nowcontinue to work in drawings without waiting for drawing views orsystem graphics to be recalculated, saving valuable design time. Themost common commands in SolidWorks are now interactive andinstantaneous, regardless of how big the assembly might become. Now,designers and engineers can move swiftly from task to task withoutwaiting.

Additionally, SolidWorks 2006 will support the recently releasedWindows XP Professional x64 Edition operating system with asoon-to-be-released service pack. A native 64-bit version of SolidWorks2006 is expected to ship later this year, promising further performancegains. New productivity features include the 3D Drawing View, which forthe first time enables an engineer working in a 2D environment tovisualize parts and assemblies in three dimensions. Users can pan,rotate, and zoom without leaving the drawing environment.

Other features include a new Display States to provide flexibility indefining an assembly’s on-screen appearance in terms of color, texture,and transparency. Allowing, for example, a model to have shadedcomponents and wire frame components displayed together in the sameassembly; a Spell Checker to ensure the accuracy of annotations in anydrawing, model, or bill of material; a new feature called SmartComponents that automatically inserts parts with corresponding mountingfeatures into new designs; and enhancements to its DWGeditor so usersfamiliar with AutoCAD software can edit legacy DWG files in theirnative format and cut and paste from a SolidWorks drawing directly intothe DWGeditor. Also, each seat of SolidWorks now comes with threelicenses of the DWGeditor for 2D users.

In conjunction with this release, the company has also begun shippingCOSMOS 2006, the latest version of its mainstream analysis software.COSMOS 2006 adds more than 100 new features that put design validationin easy-to-use packages so that powerful design analysis functions aresimplified to mouse clicks, templates, and help wizards.COSMOS 2006’s new features are aimed at engineers and designers whocould benefit from analysis, but don’t have the time to learn eitherthe science behind it or new applications. New interactive wizards,such as Analysis Advisor, help front-line engineers choose theappropriate analysis for their tasks, respond if an analysis fails, andinterpret results accurately. The product group consists of COSMOSWorksfinite element analysis software; COSMOSMotion motion simulationsoftware; and COSMOSFloWorks fluid dynamics analysis software. COSMOS’tight integration with SolidWorks 3D mechanical design software enablesusers to analyze their designs without exporting data or leaving theSolidWorks interface.

COSMOS 2006 software is included in the SolidWorks Office Premium package.

SolidWorks 2006 is available now for purchase in 12 languages worldwidethrough SolidWorks authorized resellers. It is available in threeconfigurations: SolidWorks 2006 (the core modeling software in thecompany’s 3D design product suites), SolidWorks Office Professional,and SolidWorks Office Premium.For much more information about SolidWorks 2006, including video demonstrations, please visit solidworks.com.